The Amazing Race 13 is the thirteenth season of the American reality competition show The Amazing Race. Hosted by Phil Keoghan, it featured eleven teams of two, each with a pre-existing relationship, competing in a race around the world in order to win US$1,000,000. This season visited five continents and eight countries and traveled over 40000 mi. Starting in Los Angeles, racers traveled through Brazil, Bolivia, New Zealand, Cambodia, India, Kazakhstan, and Russia before returning to the United States and finishing in Portland, Oregon. The season premiered on CBS on September 28, 2008, and the season finale aired on December 7, 2008. Siblings Nick and Starr Spangler were the winners of this season, while former NFL safety Ken Greene and his wife Tina finished in second place, and fraternity brothers Andrew Lappitt and Dan Honig finished in third place.

Production

Development and filming

The Amazing Race 13 spanned 40000 mi in 23 days and visited eight different countries. This included the series' first visits to Bolivia, Cambodia, and Kazakhstan. CBS had originally planned to only air one installment of The Amazing Race (season 12) in the 2007–08 season, but due to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike, CBS ordered a thirteenth installment as a replacement for programs affected by the strike. CBS greenlit the thirteenth installment on December 9, 2007. Season locations were scouted in January 2008 and filming took place between April and May 2008. Toni and Dallas Imbimbo were absent from the finish line, because Dallas had misplaced his passport and the team's money in Moscow, Russia, during the penultimate leg. This had been hinted at in promotional materials aired before the season began, where CBS revealed that one team made "an unprecedented mistake that ultimately prohibit[ed] them from joining their fellow Racers at the Finish Line." The passport was eventually turned in at the U.S. Embassy in Russia, but it was still too late for Toni and Dallas to join their fellow racers at the finish line. Starr Spangler revealed in a post-show interview that they did join the other racers in Portland, Oregon, at a party following the end of the competition.

Marketing

CBS heavily promoted the new season, including placing advertising on the top of three hangar buildings at Los Angeles International Airport prior to the premiere. Unlike other seasons, CBS revealed a location map of where the show would be traveling prior to the start of the season.

Cast

The cast this season featured a team of fraternity brothers, married hippies, southern belles, businesswomen divorcées, and a retired NFL player hoping to reconnect with his estranged wife. Ken Greene was a safety for the St. Louis Cardinals and San Diego Chargers before retiring in 1984. Starr Spangler and Dallas Imbimbo, who had competed on opposing teams, revealed in interviews that they had been dating long-distance for six months since the show completed taping. The two eventually ended their relationship due to the distance. Terence Gerchberg and Andrew Lappitt later attended the public start of season 25.

Results

The following teams are listed with their placements in each leg. Placements are listed in finishing order.

Race summary

Leg 1 (United States → Brazil)

Leg 2 (Brazil)

Leg 3 (Brazil → Bolivia)

Leg 4 (Bolivia → New Zealand)

Leg 5 (New Zealand → Cambodia)

Leg 6 (Cambodia → India)

Leg 7 (India)

Leg 8 (India → Kazakhstan)

Leg 9 (Kazakhstan → Russia)

Leg 10 (Russia)

Leg 11 (Russia → United States)

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Elimination Station

The first five teams eliminated were sequestered at a villa in Acapulco, Mexico to await the finale. Subsequently, eliminated teams telephoned to inform the teams at the villa of their elimination, but continued to run as decoys to throw off spoilers to the final outcome of the season. The sequestered teams met up with the decoy teams in the final destination city, to cheer the final three teams at the Finish Line. (The exception was Toni & Dallas, who were stuck in Russia after their elimination due to the loss of Dallas' passport.) CBS posted short videos on its website after each episode aired in the Pacific Time Zone to show the eliminated teams interacting at the villa.

Reception

Critical response

The Amazing Race 13 received mixed-to-positive reviews. Diana Steenbergen of IGN called this another successful season writing that "for the most part, the race was designed well, and the tasks were often very funny" and "this season was cast with an adequate bunch of contestants". Arthur Perkins of Reality Wanted praised this season's cast and wrote that "AR13 will rank high on my list of topnotch Amazing Races." Heather Havrilesky of Salon wrote that even after 13 seasons the show "remain entertaining regardless of the personalities involved." Josh Wolk of Entertainment Weekly wrote that he felt indifferent by the end of the season. Michael Hewitt of the Orange County Register called this "a sometimes maddening season." Reece Forward of Screen Rant ranked this season as the show's best praising the cast, humor, and story arcs writing that "It's a season that gets lost in the shuffle a lot of the time due to following one of the most popular seasons among fans, and preceding a season that marked a clear change in the show" but "when it gets the attention it deserves, it's clear that season 13 stands well on its own as one of the funniest, most endearing seasons of The Amazing Race with a unique cast, gorgeous locations, and consistent positive quality episode to episode." In 2016, this season was ranked 16th out of the first 27 seasons by the Rob Has a Podcast Amazing Race correspondents. In 2021, Val Barone of TheThings ranked this season as the show's 6th best season. In 2024, Rhenn Taguiam of Game Rant placed this season within the bottom 13 out of 36.

Ratings